Egypt uprising falters as negotiations with government begin

Egypt's popular uprising against Hosni Mubarak faltered on Sunday as
opposition leaders including the Muslim Brotherhood embarked on negotiations
and the ranks of street protestors was reduced by the arrest of key
ringleaders.

Anti-government protesters sit and lie inside the tracks of an Egyptian Army tankPhoto: AP

As the veteran president regained some of the initiative lost during nearly a fortnight of street protests, the Brotherhood, Egypt's popular but banned opposition, dropped its opposition to talks.

Mr Mubarak was also boosted by a return to relative normality in the city, which was clogged by familiar traffic jams for the first time in days.

Tens of thousands of protesters again thronged Cairo's Tahrir Square, but for the first time there was serious tension with the army, whose role in tightening security in the city and in arresting activists has dashed hopes that it was turning against the regime.

Omar Suleiman, the vice-president overseeing talks for the regime, offered leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood and other opposition parties a string of often vague concessions.

They included a promise to move towards releasing political prisoners, a pledge to take steps to guarantee press freedom and an offer to lift emergency laws, in place for decades, but only when the security situation improves.

An agreement was also reached to form a committee that will recommend constitutional reforms to ensure that presidential elections in September - in which Mr Mubarak has promised not to run - will be free and fair.

It will not report until March allowing Mr Mubarak time to manoeuvre while acceding to President Barack Obama's demand that a transition of power gets underway.

While insisting that it expected more to be done, the group represented by Mohamed ElBaradei, the Nobel Peace Laureate and leading Egyptian dissident, cautiously welcomed the meeting.

"The meeting was positive in general but it is only the beginning," said Mustafa Naggar, coordinator for Mr ElBaradei's National Association for Change. "We demand a full democratic transformation and not partial reforms."

The Muslim Brotherhood denounced the concessions offered as "insufficient", but said talks would continue.

Mr Suleiman reportedly insisted that "democracy comes in stages", adding "I am keen that there is a peaceful transitional period and civilian rule."

One formula would see Mr Suleiman assume Mr Mubarak's executive functions while he remains a figurehead until the elections.

"We see him as a necessary evil, not a perfect solution," said Ashraf Helmy, a doctor. "We have to accept him as someone who is trustworthy enough to manage the the transition to democracy, but after that, of course, he must go."

However, other demonstrators on Tahrir Square said they felt betrayed by the compromises now apparently on the table. "Executive authority is still in Mubarak's hands," said Yusuf Abdul, an engineer. He said that the key elements of power still lay in the hands of the regime.

Human rights groups claimed there was military police involvement in the arrests of thousands of people including activists and foreign journalists in recent days.

Ahmed Saif al-Islam Hafez, a prominent lawyer, was one of 30 people rounded up at the Hisham Mubarak Legal Centre, a group that has played a key role in documenting the protests.

He said during his arrest he was told by a senior officer that Hosni Mubarak was seen as having "made mistakes" but that the army would never let a former leader face "this kind of end".

Mr Hafez said while he was held he heard screams from another cell nearby.